High on Life 2 Review: Unreal Engine 5 Performance Debate Reignited
▼ Summary
– The review notes that High on Life 2 is a creative and substantial improvement over its predecessor, but discussion is dominated by its Unreal Engine 5 performance issues.
– On consoles, the game uses a single 60fps graphics mode with low internal resolutions (e.g., ~720p on PS5) and suffers from inconsistent performance and stutter, even with VRR.
– The PlayStation 5 Pro offers little visual upgrade over standard consoles, while the Xbox Series S version removes key features like Lumen global illumination, harming its visual identity.
– The PC version requires high-end hardware to run well, as testing showed significant stutter and performance problems on mid-range systems, particularly with 8GB GPUs.
– Despite technical shortcomings, the game is praised for its fun, free-flowing combat, stylish presentation, and innovative traversal mechanics like the skateboard.
The release of High on Life 2 has sparked a significant debate about Unreal Engine 5 performance, with technical discussions often overshadowing the game’s creative merits. While the sequel is widely considered a major improvement over the original, offering a rich and inventive experience, its single graphics mode has become a focal point for criticism. This mode aims for 60 frames per second while utilizing UE5’s flagship features: Nanite, Lumen global illumination, and virtual shadow maps. The inherent trade-off for such visual density is a low internal resolution, which upscaling technology must then compensate for to deliver a final image.
On consoles, the resolution figures are notably modest. The PlayStation 5 renders internally at approximately 720p, with the Xbox Series X managing a slight bump to around 792p. The new PlayStation 5 Pro offers little meaningful upgrade in this title, presenting similar resolution and only marginally smoother performance despite having access to more advanced upscalers. The Xbox Series S version makes more substantial cuts, removing Lumen entirely and reducing shadow and texture quality, which strips away a core part of the game’s visual identity. Crucially, none of the consoles maintain a stable 60fps, and variable refresh rate (VRR) support often fails to fully smooth out the persistent stuttering, suggesting potential CPU limitations.
This situation highlights a central challenge for developers using current builds of Unreal Engine 5. There is a clear desire to deliver both cutting-edge visuals and high frame rates, but with existing hardware, compromises are unavoidable. Epic Games’ own early demonstrations targeted 30fps, underscoring the difficulty of the task. The team behind High on Life 2 opted for a single, performance-focused mode, which simplifies user choice but may not have been the optimal strategy. One wonders if a dedicated 40fps balanced mode for 120Hz displays could have provided a more consistent experience by alleviating CPU bottlenecks and allowing for a higher resolution window.
Despite these technical hurdles, the game itself is a blast to play. It’s a vibrant, creative shooter that feels both familiar and fresh, weaving together inspirations from titles like Sunset Overdrive, Doom, and BioShock Infinite. The combat is fluid and satisfying, and the new skateboard mechanic adds a layer of slick, uninterrupted mobility that perfectly complements the gunplay. Visually, the game employs a polished, CG-like art style that represents a huge leap over the first game. Characters and environments appear wonderfully smooth, with Lumen’s lighting helping to blend everything into a cohesive and attractive world.
However, some visual quirks are apparent. The developers’ heavy use of very clean, reflective surfaces exposes the limitations of the software-based Lumen implementation. Reflections often appear blurry and lack geometric detail, a noticeable step down from the crisp reflections seen in other titles. Another curious choice is the extensive use of screen-space contact shadows on large objects and characters. This technique creates a distracting artifact where shadows vanish entirely once the object casting them moves off-screen, breaking the illusion of a consistent light source.
The performance conversation extends to PC as well. While a high-end system can deliver stunning results, the game proves to be exceptionally demanding. Testing with a configuration like a Ryzen 5 3600 and an RTX 4060 (8GB) resulted in a poor experience, with stuttering and low frame rates even on medium settings. Upgrading to a GPU with more VRAM, like a 16GB RTX 4060 Ti, improved stability but then exposed CPU limitations during background streaming, causing frame drops. In essence, achieving smooth performance requires a powerful, well-balanced PC. Interestingly, the console versions (excluding Series S) arguably deliver a more optimized experience relative to their hardware, though they still struggle with the core challenge of running a demanding UE5 title at a high frame rate with good image quality. Solving this may require future iterations of the engine and development strategies better tailored to the specific strengths and limits of console hardware.
(Source: Digital Foundry)
